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Tonight, ABC News’ 20/20 will focus on the case of Dr. Thomas Michael Dixon, who was convicted of the 2012 murder-for-hire plot against Dr. Joseph Sonnier.
In court, the prosecution argued that Dixon was obsessed with his ex-girlfriend, Richelle Shetina, who was dating Sonnier at the time of his death.
Tonight’s episode see’s David Shepard interviewed, the man who was convicted of pulling the trigger, also featured is Richelle Shetina, who Sonnier was dating, she was also a former girlfriend of Dixon’s. Those interviews come from ABC News’ archives.
Here’s what you need to know.
1. Dr. Dixon Was Released on a $2 Million Bond Earlier This Year
Dr. Joseph Sonnier, a respected & wealthy pathologist living in Texas, was found shot and stabbed to death at his home in 2012.
Don’t miss our new look at the case, just weeks after a revoked life sentence in the case – tomorrow on #ABC2020 #DeadlyDance. t.co/G6a0TvUjXg
In 2015, Dr. Dixon was convicted in the murder of Dr. Joseph Sonnier, who was found stabbed to death in his home.
Earlier this year, Dixon was released from prison on bond after winning an appeal for the 2015 murder conviction. (The 2015 conviction resulted in a life sentence.) Now, he’s out on bail, awaiting a new trial.
A news release for tonight’s episode from ABC reads, “Now, as prosecutors fight to have that conviction reinstated, and Dr. Dixon is out on bail, a two-hour ’20/20′ documentary event digs deeper into the puzzling crime and love triangle, and features new interviews with Kristen Furhmann and Marsha Mahurin, two hold out jurors from Dr. Dixon’s first trial and Cynthia Orr, Dr. Dixon’s appellate attorney, who says that Dr. Dixon is not responsible for Dr. Sonnier’s death…”
To date, Dixon has been tried twice.
2. He Was an Amarillo, Texas, Based Plastic Surgeon
Bond reduction denied for Dr. Thomas Dixon in Sonnier murder case http://t.co/7Fs9pdGMSx #dixontrial http://t.co/xSR7fiijHE
Dr. Thomas Dixon was a plastic surgeon based out of Amarillo, Texas.
He and Shetina met in 2008, when she visited his office to get some Botox injections. According to ABC, the two became friends on Facebook and developed a ‘friendly’ relationship.
Two years later, they began having an affair. When Dixon’s wife found out, she filed for divorce, and Dixon and Shetina began dating exclusively. After a few months of dating, they called it quits.
In the months after the breakup, Shetina began seeing Dr. Sonnier, whom she described more than once as being the “love of her life.” After meeting up with Dixon and telling him she was happy in her new relationship, she says she began to feel that she was being watched. ABC writes, “She says she felt like she was being watched at her local gym, and in February 2012, she came home to an odd note claiming to be from an ex-girlfriend of Sonnier. Shetina said Sonnier thought that it must be someone trying to ‘drive a wedge’ between them.”
3. He Was Convicted of Hiring a Man to Kill His ‘Romantic Rival’
Dr. Dixon was convicted of hiring a man to kill his “romantic rival”, Dr. Joseph Sonnier, in the words of My High Plains.
How was he identified as the murderer? Not long after Sonnier’s death, a man named Paul Reynolds informed police that the man he was staying with, David Shephard, said he had killed someone in Lubbock. When authorities spoke to Shepard, he told them that his friend, Dr. Dixon, paid him three silver bars and gave him a box of Cuban cigars in exchange for the killing.
In 2015, he was found guilty of two counts of capital murder for the July 2012 death. Dixon was arrested for the murder on July 15, 2012.
4. His Attorneys Argued That Information from His Cell Phone Was Taken Without a Warrant
Late last year, Dixon’s attorneys in court argued that the judgment of the trial court should be reversed.
They pointed to many issues in the case; one was that there was no search warrant for cell phone records used in trial. They also referenced three instances in which the trial was closed or partially closed to the public.
Everything Lubbock reports, “Dixon’s attorneys on appeal argued that information from his cell phone was taken without a warrant. The prosecutors responded in the appeals process by admitting, yes, the records were taken without a warrant, but instead they were obtained by a court order under the Stored Communications Act.”
5. Shepard Accepted a Plea Deal to Testify Against Dixon
Dr. Thomas Dixon escorted back to jail Wednesday after his request for a bond reduction was denied. #dixontrial http://t.co/AqIj3pijKf
In Dixon’s first trial, Shepard accepted a plea deal to testify against Dixon. In exchange, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder charges to avoid the death penalty. Today, he is serving a life sentence.
However, when he took to the stand, he completely changed his story. ABC reports, “But on the stand, Shepard surprises everyone and changes his story. He now claims that Dixon was not involved in the murder at all and that he acted alone. The defense argued that Dixon only asked Shepard to take photographs of Sonnier out with other women with the intent to show his ex-girlfriend, Richelle Shetina, but he never wanted Sonnier dead. They also said the silver bars Dixon gave to Shepard was part of a business investment for a company they were starting together.”
That trial ended in a hung jury.
In October 2015, during the retrial, Shepard was not put on the stand. His daughter, however, did testify to say that she believed her father lied on the stand to protect his friend.